ICYMI: Rasmussen Poll Shows Walker 49%, Barrett 41%

Wauwatosa – Keith Gilkes, campaign manager for Scott Walker, released the following statement on polling showing Scott Walker’s continual gains on Tom Barrett.
 

“Scott Walker’s Brown Bag Movement and its message of job creation, limited government, and lower taxes, continues to grow as voters reject Tom Barrett’s bid to assume Jim Doyle’s third term.”
 

Included in today’s poll:
 

•       Rasmussen Reports has moved Wisconsin from a “Toss-Up” to “Leans Republican”.

•       Walker leads Neumann with Republicans by 9 points and with conservatives by 7 points.

•       Walker leads Barrett among independents by 8 points.

 

Election 2010: Wisconsin Governor

Thursday, August 12, 2010

 

Republican front-runner Scott Walker holds an eight-point lead over Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the race to be Wisconsin’s next governor.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Walker picking up 49% support, while Barrett earns 41% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, while six percent (6%) are undecided.

Walker, the county executive of Milwaukee County, reached 50% support for the first time two weeks ago against Barrett, who had 43% support.

With this survey, Wisconsin moves from a Toss-Up state to Leans Republican in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard.

Barrett remains in a virtual tie with former Congressman Mark Neumann, the other GOP hopeful in the contest. Neumann picks up 45% to Barrett’s 43%. Two weeks ago, the race was 45% to 44% in favor of Barrett.

Walker has consistently proven to be the slightly stronger GOP candidate against Barrett, with support back to early February in the narrow range of 46% to 50%. In those same surveys, support for Barrett has ranged from 40% to 44%. 

Neumann has picked up 43% to 47% of the vote against Barrett, who has earned 39% to 46% in those matchups.
Barrett has no strong opposition for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Voters in both parties will pick their nominees in September 14 primaries.

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The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Wisconsin was conducted on August 10, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold and his top Republican challenger, Ron Johnson, are essentially tied again this month in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race.

While Walker earns 90% support from Republicans, Neumann picks up 81% support. Barrett is backed by roughly 80% of those in his party in both match-ups. Both Republicans pick up over 50% support among voters not affiliated with either major political party.

In Wisconsin, 45% favor a provision in the new health care bill that requires every American to buy or obtain health insurance, which is higher than results found nationwide. Forty-nine percent (49%) oppose this requirement. Those numbers include 24% who Strongly Favor this requirement and 38% who Strongly Oppose it.

Wisconsin voters are also evenly divided on their support for their state suing the government to prevent this requirement from remaining in the law. Forty-two percent (42%) favor this state action, 38% oppose it, while another 20% are undecided.

Three-out-of-four voters who Strongly Favor the requirement support the Democrat. Walker is backed by 85% of those who Strongly Oppose the requirement, while Neumann picks up 75% support from those voters.

Walker is viewed Very Favorably by 29% and Very Unfavorably by 23%.

Neumann’s ratings are 14% Very Favorable, 17% Very Unfavorable.

Barrett earns Very Favorable marks from 21% and Very Unfavorable reviews from 26%.

All three candidates are well-known in the state.  At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Democratic Governor Jim Doyle is not standing for reelection. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of Wisconsin voters now approve of the job he is doing as governor.  Sixty percent (60%) disapprove. Those numbers are identical to those found two weeks ago.

In 2008, Rasmussen Reports projected nationally that Barack Obama would defeat John McCain by a 52% to 46% margin. Obama won 53% to 46%. Four years earlier, Rasmussen Reports projected the national vote totals for both George W. Bush and John Kerry within half-a-percentage-point.

In 2006 Senator Herb Kohl was ahead of Robert Lorge 64% to 25% in the final Rasmussen poll. Kohl won 67% to 30%. In the governor's race that year, Rasmussen polling showed Doyle leading Mark Green 48% to 44%. Doyle won 53% to 45%. 
In Feingold's 2004 reelection bid, final Rasmussen polling showed him leading 53% to 43%. Feingold won 55% to 44%.

 

See the full results here: http://bit.ly/doX6t2